Published 5:30 am, Friday, August 2, 2013

Shane Martinez on Thursday formally resigned as District 5 representative on the Plainview City Council.

He submitted his resignation, effective immediately, in a letter to Mayor Wendell Dunlap.

Following the council’s regular meeting on July 23, Martinez publicly announced plans to leave the council.

Elected to the council in May 2012, Martinez in his resignation letter explained, “I am resigning my post because I have moved my primary residence to Lubbock and the city charter requirements prevent me from continuing to fulfill the duties of the office I was elected to.”

Martinez noted that his wife, Dr. Heather Martinez, has been commuting daily to Lubbock for more than two years, while their son Zachariah attended Hillcrest School and Martinez worked in Plainview. Now it will be his turn to commute.

“I will still continue to be employed here in Plainview by Covenant Hospital at the Formby Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,” he explained.

Martinez was one of two resignations announced in conjunction with the July 23 council meeting. Police Chief William Mull, 70, also made known his plans to retire sometime early fall.

Mull has served with the Plainview Police Department since 1970, and has been chief since 1996. He turned 70 years old last March.

No announcement has been made by city officials concerning the process to replace either individual.